# 1969 Cleveland Indians season

The 1969 Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The club finished in last place in the newly established American League East with a record of 62 wins and 99 losses. The 1969 season seemed hopeful before the season started, based on the Indians' modest 86–75 record the previous season, along with their solid pitching. However, a 1–15 start shattered any illusions of a successful season. Not helping, was that the Indians strong pitching the previous season fell apart. Luis Tiant fell to 9–20 in 1969 and didn't look like the same pitcher from 1968, when he went 21–9, with a 1.60 ERA. Sam McDowell stayed solid at the very least, going 18–14, with a 2.94 ERA.

## Offseason

* October 8, 1968: Eddie Fisher was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the California Angels for Jack Hamilton.
* October 15, 1968: 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft
** Chico Salmon was drafted from the Indians by the Seattle Pilots as the 11th pick.
** Lou Piniella was drafted from the Indians by the Pilots as the 28th pick.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Baltimore Orioles | 109 | 53 | .673 | — | 60‍–‍21 | 49‍–‍32 |
| Detroit Tigers | 90 | 72 | .556 | 19 | 46‍–‍35 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 87 | 75 | .537 | 22 | 46‍–‍35 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Washington Senators | 86 | 76 | .531 | 23 | 47‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍42 |
| New York Yankees | 80 | 81 | .497 | 28½ | 48‍–‍32 | 32‍–‍49 |
| Cleveland Indians | 62 | 99 | .385 | 46½ | 33‍–‍48 | 29‍–‍51 |

### Record vs. opponents

1969 American League recordsvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEP | WSH |
| Baltimore | — | 10–8 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 13–5 | 11–7 | 11–1 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 13–5 |
| Boston | 8–10 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–12 |
| California | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 9–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 6–12 | 9–9–1 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 3–9 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 8–4 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 4–8 |
| Cleveland | 5–13 | 6–12 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 7–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 3–15 |
| Detroit | 7–11 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 7–11 |
| Kansas City | 1–11 | 2–10 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 5–7–1 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 7–5 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 10–2 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 |
| New York | 7–11 | 7–11 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 8–9 | 8–10 | 7–5–1 | 2–10 | — | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–8 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 6–6 | — | 13–5 | 8–4 |
| Seattle | 3–9 | 6–6 | 9–9–1 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–13 | — | 7–5 |
| Washington | 5–13 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 15–3 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 10, 1969: Oscar Zamora was released by the Indians.
* April 19, 1969: Joe Azcue, Vicente Romo and Sonny Siebert were traded by the Indians to the Boston Red Sox for Dick Ellsworth, Ken Harrelson and Juan Pizarro.
* June 12, 1969: Rob Gardner was traded by the Indians to the New York Yankees for John Orsino.
* June 20, 1969: Lee Maye was traded by the Indians to the Washington Senators for Bill Denehy and cash.

### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 1 | José Cardenal | CF |
| 16 | Larry Brown | SS |
| 28 | Richie Scheinblum | RF |
| 11 | Tony Horton | 1B |
| 20 | Jimmie Hall | LF |
| 7 | Joe Azcue | C |
| 17 | Zoilo Versalles | 3B |
| 13 | Vern Fuller | 2B |
| 33 | Luis Tiant | P |

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Duke Sims | 114 | 326 | 77 | .236 | 18 | 45 |
| 1B | Tony Horton | 159 | 625 | 174 | .278 | 27 | 93 |
| 2B | Vern Fuller | 108 | 254 | 60 | .236 | 4 | 22 |
| SS | Larry Brown | 132 | 469 | 112 | .239 | 4 | 24 |
| 3B | Max Alvis | 66 | 191 | 43 | .225 | 1 | 15 |
| LF | Frank Baker | 52 | 172 | 44 | .256 | 3 | 15 |
| CF | José Cardenal | 146 | 557 | 143 | .257 | 11 | 45 |
| RF | Ken Harrelson | 149 | 519 | 115 | .222 | 27 | 84 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Russ Snyder | 122 | 266 | 66 | .248 | 2 | 24 |
| Lou Klimchock | 90 | 258 | 74 | .287 | 6 | 26 |
| Zoilo Versalles | 72 | 217 | 49 | .226 | 1 | 13 |
| Eddie Leon | 64 | 213 | 51 | .239 | 3 | 19 |
| Richie Scheinblum | 102 | 199 | 37 | .186 | 1 | 13 |
| Dave Nelson | 52 | 123 | 25 | .203 | 0 | 6 |
| Chuck Hinton | 94 | 121 | 31 | .256 | 3 | 19 |
| Ray Fosse | 37 | 116 | 20 | .172 | 2 | 9 |
| Cap Peterson | 76 | 110 | 25 | .227 | 1 | 14 |
| Lee Maye | 43 | 108 | 27 | .250 | 1 | 15 |
| Ken Suarez | 36 | 85 | 25 | .294 | 1 | 9 |
| Joe Azcue | 7 | 24 | 7 | .292 | 1 | 1 |
| Russ Nagelson | 12 | 17 | 6 | .353 | 0 | 0 |
| Lou Camilli | 13 | 14 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jimmie Hall | 4 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Heidemann | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Sam McDowell | 39 | 285.0 | 18 | 14 | 2.94 | 279 |
| Luis Tiant | 38 | 249.2 | 9 | 20 | 3.71 | 156 |
| Sonny Siebert | 2 | 14.0 | 0 | 1 | 3.21 | 6 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Stan Williams | 61 | 178.1 | 6 | 14 | 3.94 | 139 |
| Steve Hargan | 32 | 143.2 | 5 | 14 | 5.70 | 76 |
| Dick Ellsworth | 34 | 135.0 | 6 | 9 | 4.13 | 48 |
| Mike Paul | 47 | 117.1 | 5 | 10 | 3.61 | 98 |
| Gary Boyd | 8 | 11.0 | 0 | 2 | 9.00 | 9 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Juan Pizarro | 48 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3.16 | 44 |
| Ron Law | 35 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4.99 | 29 |
| Horacio Piña | 31 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5.21 | 32 |
| Larry Burchart | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.25 | 26 |
| Jack Hamilton | 20 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4.40 | 13 |
| Gary Kroll | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.13 | 28 |
| Phil Hennigan | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.31 | 10 |
| Vicente Romo | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.25 | 7 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Portland Beavers | Pacific Coast League | Red Davis |
| AA | Waterbury Indians | Eastern League | Clay Bryant |
| A | Reno Silver Sox | California League | Ken Aspromonte |
| A | Statesville/Monroe Indians | Western Carolinas League | Pinky May |
| Rookie | GCL Indians | Gulf Coast League | Joe Lutz |
Statesville franchise moved to Monroe, June 20, 1969